You do not get what you deserve; you get what you negotiate!—Anonymous
Many prospects and clients call me when they think that they are facing a challenge in getting themselves to their next level in their group, organization, or company. This entails clients from individual contributors (ICs) to those in senior executive positions. In almost all cases this is their refrain: I have worked so hard during the year and delivered on so many fronts that they should now promote me.
Wrong!
Most people see a promotion as their right to get what they deserve for their hard work and for what they can do for their company in the future (see the quote above). Another famous quote by Emerson is also apt in this context: “Most people judge themselves by what they are capable of doing; others judge them by what they have already done!”
So, a promotion is not about hard work and for showing your potential by making promises, but it is about delivering value at your next level consistently and visibly. Both these adverbs are important in setting yourself for consideration for your next level of promotion. So, here are some strategies and tips that I pass on to my clients:
- The time to plan for your promotion discussion is at least one full year ahead of the time you want that promotion to be in place. Generally, at the Annual Performance Review (APR) time you must bring this topic for discussion with specificity in conversation with your boss.
- During this meeting have the promotion discussion as a separate topic into itself. Do not mix it with other transactional topics you normally discuss with your boss. So, do not say, “By the way, my three tasks on project A are on track this week. Can we now talk about my promotion?”
- Instead, send a separate email to your boss and set up a meeting to discuss your career progression, future plans, and development opportunities. Do not include any other items in this email. This will require your boss to change their frame of mind in how this meeting takes place and to move their focus from transactional discussions to something more substantive.
- In this meeting bring a list of your accomplishment during the past few years and present them in a concise table with tasks, their importance to the company, and the value they created in $$. Do not bring a long list of topics and pages of text describing your work. Bring one tabular page of tasks, their relevance, and impact that can be measured and that can be verified through direct means.
- During this conversation ask your boss what more they can suggest for you to take on your own to further your career and to help the company in areas that are a struggle for your group, unit, or your company.
- Get a table of Competency Matrix from your HR representative and look across the page to the right of where your position is described. Say, you are a senior manager and you want to get promoted to the next level—director. Look at the competencies listed under the director title and start planning on taking on some of those tasks in your current role. Take this matrix with you to this meeting with your boss and have a discussion on why you are taking on these “next-level tasks.” If your boss suggests other tasks from that cell discuss further and get clarity on them.
- Continue to do your job to exceed your boss’ expectations and keep yourself visible at least two levels above your boss. In this example, as a senior manager, you must keep your line of sight to your director (your skip-level boss) and VP (your uber boss) to make sure that your accomplishments are visible to them and others at those levels and throughout your ecosystem.
- Participate openly in events and initiatives that bring your visibility to others in the executive ranks. Make sure that you are doing this in a positive and constructive way and not merely as an affectation to get their attention from those who matter.
- Mentor those junior to you and find yourself a mentor to grow your leadership power.
- Keep your boss in the loop as you progress towards the next APR and check your progress as they see it and not as you do. Make course correction if something gets off track and get ready for your next APR. Now you have all the ammunition you need to have a much more meaningful discussion about your well-deserved promotion.
Promotion does not merely come from working hard, delivering what is on your plate or what the boss tells you is important. As one moves up an organization there are fewer and fewer positions available for a promotion and those who stand out both from their performance and from their optics (image they cultivate and manage) get the best shot at their next promotion. Without having a specific discussion about your desire to get promoted and without having this planned roadmap before you bring this topic up, someone else, who has followed this recipe may hijack away the promotion that was yours to have!
Good luck!